The Climbing Club aims high as A&M-Commerce's newest club sport

Morris Recreation Center (MRC) added a new club sport under its roof with the cooperation of Outdoor Adventure (OA). The Climbing Society joined the family with the first official meeting on April 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the rock wall of the MRC. The club will provide an environment for students to be part of a team and climb at a competitive level.

"Once a team is established, we will become part of the Collegiate Climbing Series and travel to other universities to compete," Climbing Society President, Andrew Dahir said.

The club is free for all MRC members, and students who are interested may join at any time. Members are not required to attend all the meetings but are encouraged to do so.

"Students looking to be a part of the team will need to show up to 3three-forths of the practices, but we will not be enforcing this rule until next semester when we will be going to competitions as a team," Dahir said.

The club has been an idea for the past year, but finally came to be a reality this semester. Currently the club has 20 official members with 25 being unofficial.

The climbing practices are every Monday from 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at the MRC rock wall.

"Next semester we are hoping to align ourselves with the Rec Center's climbing related activities such as the rock climbing trips and lead climbing classes the Rec Center already holds," Dahir added.

The members of the club are happy to be participating and learning about rock climbing, and often get valuable climbing advice from one of the experienced coaches assisting the members.

"Climbing club is a lot of fun and is a chance to meet other people that also enjoy climbing," club member Kathryn Cotsakis said. "It is a way to get new people into climbing."

Even the experienced climbers, now coaches, are enjoying the new orgaization, and find personal growth through the opportunities it has provided.

"I'm thoroughly enjoying coaching," head coach Jesse Pierson said. "I felt nervous at first, but after reading two books on both climbing conditioning and coaching specifically, it has been a wonderful experience even in these early stages."

The next official meeting the club will be holding is on April 23 at 6:30 p.m. where the officer elections will take place. The members will be discussing general information, shirt designs, finalize the name of the team, and to select officers.

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